U.S. had the fewest coal-fired power plant retirements last year since 2010

Last year, the U.S. returned 2.6 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity, which was the lowest since 2010. 

Coal plant operators had planned to retire 8.5 gigawatts, but more than half of that was delayed to a future date, according to the Energy Information Administration. 

The retirement of two other coal plants with 1.1 gigawatts of power was canceled entirely. Plans to retire another 1.2 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity in 2027 were canceled, and a facility slated to retire in 2026 had the retirement delayed until 2029. 

Only four coal-fired generating units were retired in 2025, representing a 1.5% drop over the previous year. 

The units retired in 2025 were located in Delaware, Arizona, Utah and Iowa.